New plea on more civil service jobs for Dundee

21 December 2009

Marlyn Glen has responded to the invitation from Dundee City Council to lobby the Scottish Government for more civil service jobs for the city by telling Finance Secretary John Swinney that the city “must be the location of new agencies” established by the Scottish Government.

Ms. Glen said,

“Since the Scottish Government took over from the Scottish Executive in 2007, not a single civil service job has been transferred to Dundee from Edinburgh.

“In office, they have set up various agencies, none of which has been located in Dundee.

” Skills Development Scotland is based in Glasgow, while the Scottish Futures Trust is based in Edinburgh.

” Creative Scotland which replaces both the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen next year, is not being required to move to Dundee.

“The original purpose of the civil service relocation policy was that the work of the Scottish Government means jobs being shared in all parts of Scotland rather than being concentrated in Edinburgh.

“That has been replaced, to the detriment of Dundee, by a new ‘ policy of strategic asset management’ that is ‘”based upon better use of the existing government estate and solutions that represent best value for money.’

“The Scottish Government needs to look again at its recent decision not to review this policy.

“It also needs to give the city a firm commitment that Dundee will be the home of new long-term Scottish Government agencies which would represent a significant investment in the local economy.”